FIFA may scrap extra-time at World Cups

Plans: Sepp Blatter wants to encourage more free-flowing football at tournaments

Sepp Blatter said today that FIFA will consider scrapping extra-time at World Cups or reviving the golden goal' rule.

The FIFA president wants to encourage more free-flowing football and was concerned teams' priority in extra-time was to secure a penalty shoot-out.

FIFA will now look at whether they should go straight to a shoot-out after 90 minutes or re-introduce the golden goal rule where the first team to score in extra-time wins the game.

Blatter said: "We must try to find a way to encourage free-flowing football in tournaments like the World Cup, with teams playing to win. We plan to take the opportunity to look at the concept of extra-time as well.

"Often we see teams set themselves up even more defensively in extra-time, in an attempt to avoid conceding a goal at all costs.

"To prevent this, we could go directly to a penalty shoot-out at full time, or reintroduce the golden goal rule. We'll see what emerges from meetings."

Blatter said some teams at the last World Cup in South Africa played for a draw from the first whistle. He told www.fifa.com: "Football has become such a strategic game, with teams moving as a unit. It can be an impressive sight; gone are the days of simple tactics where you attacked then defended.

"But in the first few matches of the group stage in South Africa, we witnessed some teams that went out to avoid defeat, that were playing for a draw from the outset. This is a topic that I would like to discuss at upcoming meetings."

Blatter stressed, however, Spain's triumph was well-deserved and he praised the quality of Argentina, Germany and Ghana. He added: "For several World Cups now, we've been expecting a new champion to emerge. There was an element of hope that the champion would come from a continent that hadn't produced a winner.

"South Korea came very close in 2002 while this time around, a couple of centimetres were the difference between Ghana making the semi-finals.

"That said, Spain's success was well-deserved; they along with Argentina produced the highest quality of play. On top of that, they're both young teams, just like the German side that finished third and Ghana. That's a good sign."